Custom 1911 for Left Handed Shooters

Maximus Arms announced the production of a custom 1911 for left-handed shooters. The pistol is part of the company’s Gladiator line of handguns. The left handed model has an ambidextrous thumb safety and a magazine release mounted on the right side of the gun’s frame.

MSRP on the guns is $1,776, but the company has a limited time introductory price of $1,661.

From Maximus Arms:

Maximus Arms now offers its Custom Gladiator 1911 with an ambidextrous thumb safety and a left-handed magazine mag release.

We have found that right-hand competitive shooters often have this option added as it allows faster magazine exchange for them as well.

The custom-built Gladiator is currently being reviewed by a number of both online and print publications.

Each individual part is carefully hand-fitted. Next, the edges are melted (contoured) for seamless comfort. Each Gladiator passes through a strict quality control process by the QC department.

“Every stage of producing a Custom Gladiator 1911 includes a precise quality assessment. There is no room for error at Maximus Arms. Our aim is to produce the finest 1911 possible,” said Tony Bellione, cofounder of Maximus Arms.

While industry standards dictate a substantially higher price-point for a custom gun, this custom built, 100% American-made pistol is available for a suggested retail price of only $1,776. However, for a brief time first-time buyers can enjoy the firearm for the introductory promotional price of $1,661.

An advocate of gun proliferation zones, Richard is a long time shooter, former cop and internet entrepreneur. Among the many places he calls home is http://www.gunsholstersandgear.com/.

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noob

huh, it’s like half a double barreled 1911.

Anonymoose

You can go akimbo more easily this way!

Seriously, though, as someone who’s left-eyed and sorta ambidextrous, I wouldn’t mind one of these. If only it were about $700 cheaper…

echelon

My Regent 1911 has all of these features and more and it was $450. I’ve put thousands of rounds through it with no failures or parts breakage.

iksnilol

Are you saying that a 1911 doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars?

Do I know a bunch of people who wouldn’t like you (don’t worry, I still like you).

echelon

Yes I’m saying that after 100 plus years of manufacturing 1911s most places have really figured it out. I’ve shot $300 1911s all the way up to multi thousand customs and guess what? Most of them shot the same.

Sure the trigger pull and such on the high ends were nicer, but again, I can do a trigger job on a “low end gun” and have it shooting just as sweet for next to no money.

I’ve also seen high end guns break very quickly and I’ve seen cheapo guns run like a tank. Things made by humans tend to be hit or miss no matter what. Also many times with high end guns the slide to frame fit is so freakin’ tight they actually become less reliable in adverse situations.

Also – I’m glad that you still like me. It would be a shame if we couldn’t be friends just because of handgun price and preference.

As a lefty, the only thing that really matters is an ambi safety. Which is widely available on a vast selection of 1911s. It’s just as easy to drop a mag with your index feature and slingshot the slide as it is to hit the mag release and slide stop with your thumb. Just my 2 cents.

Ben

As another lefty shooter, I concur with this sentiment.

echelon

I hate it when companies make supposedly ambidextrous or lefty models and then feel justified in charging out the yin yang for them. From a design standpoint all newly made 1911s, unless they are a commemorative model, should be STANDARD with ambi safety at least. Why is it that I can get a really good 1911 made in Turkey or the Philippines with these features standard for $500 but this thing has to be almost $2k? And SA, Kimber, etc all charge more for their models with ambi safeties. Likewise for CZ75 and other designs, tons of good true ambi clones coming out of euro or asian factories but the “real deal” or “high quality American” versions are stuck in 100 year old design hell.

And for the record, as a lefty I don’t prefer my mag release on the right side of the gun as I find it faster and easier to drop the mag with the existing release with my middle finger….

iksnilol

Correction; Euro guns are usually the originals, so please don’t call them clones.

echelon

I meant, in the case of a CZ75, a gun not made by CZ. EAA, Canik55, etc are all making CZ75 “clones” or style guns that are in many ways better than an actual CZ and lower in price.

iksnilol

Better than CZ? I don’t think I like you anymore.

Nah, it is okay. I get it, CZs are not among the most inexpensive gats in the US. Here in Europe only gun cheaper than a CZ is a Glock or various used pistols.

echelon

Yeah I understand the economics of the guns are different in Europe with most of them being made there and all.

I’m just pointing out that it’s silly to talk up features like this on a very expensive custom gun as if you’ve somehow done left handed shooters a real favor when there are $400 1911s out there that for all intents and purposes will do 90% of what this gun will do. And even if you make an arguement for better internal parts or something it’s still a moot point because you could completely change out the internals and still have way less money than in this custom gun and you’d still have the full ambi controls as it came from the factory.

So any way you look at this situation from a features to money standpoint it is a fail.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/ Phil W “Senior Writer TFB”

None of the clones can beat a real CZ. This is just from experience shooting most of the clones and originals.

echelon

I’d have to honestly and sincerely disagree. I have a Canik55 that will shoot every bit as good as my CZ and for the money I could almost buy two of the Caniks…and more to my point, the Caniks have fully ambidextrous features whereas the higher priced and potentially marginally better CZ does not.

I also know of many anecdotal stories from 3 gunners who shoot CZs and use a clone as a backup and many of them report that their backup clone guns shoot just as good as their CZ brethren.

But again my main point is that it’s just so ridiculous and asinine that gun designs that are 100 years plus old are still being produced in the exact same format when the advancement in manufacturing and tactics/use have continued to evolve and change. What does it cost a manufacturer to outfit every 1911 model with an ambi safety? It can’t be much considering many companies do just that on $500-600 guns.

ColaBox

They over charge because we live in a right handed world that hates people that do it right (see what I did there?). When the leftie ARs came onto the market they sold like hot cakes, STAG had such a huge boost in profit that others joined in to share the merriment.
But somehow this idea of fair prices has completely passed over the heads of most manufacturers. I don’t want a damn ambi safety or such, I want a leftie, I shouldn’t have to compromise.
For that matter why is it so hard to make a left handed revolver?

echelon

Charter Arms does. It’s called the Southpaw. But going even further I don’t want an either/or scenario. Given that firearms can/will be used in potentially life threatening situations and we hear “tier 1 operators” go on and on about training with your weak side in the advent that your strong side gets injured or disabled, etc. that when designers actually make a gun they would have this already in mind and not make a left/right dichotomy.

There is no reason in the 21st century that any new or even extant design couldn’t be made from the ground up with true ambidexterity in mind. The Beretta ARX rifle and several pistols such as the FNS/X series from FNH come to mind. Guns like the Tavor are a fail in this regard. Imagine how sick that gun would be if you only had one model and it was ambi from the get go?

And enterprising companies have already produced designs of ARs that can eject left or right side just by rotating the bolt 180 degrees. It can be done if the designers think with their dipstick jimmy from the get go…

ColaBox

Heard of Charter, but im not looking for a snub. Full length, but iv never seen one for left handed. Even Google basically says “You’re shit outta luck.”

Vhyrus

The worst part is that the slide release is still on the wrong side and it still ejects out the right. How they had the balls to call this left handed is beyond me.

David

There is no such thing as a slide release. The component in question is a slide stop

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/ Phil W “Senior Writer TFB”

And I never use the slide stop anyway if I can help.

hkryan

Thanks David, I’m so glad you clarified this for me… I had no idea what he was referring to. I went back in time and asked JMB what part was the slide release and he slapped me… /sarcasm.

Seriously, who cares what the hell you call it. Why does it have serrations on it if it’s simply a slide stop? For looks? Or maybe it can also be used to “release” the slide?

david

Why> Because a slide stop should not be used as a slide release. Given that, the above comment that the slide release is on the wrong side is therefore incorrect.

Plus, the use of the wrong term displays ignorance, such as calling a magazine a clip.

leftyman5

where is the lefty slide release? I mean, I can work righty controls as a lefty, but if you are going to market a left handed gun, go ahead and make the full conversion. like cabot does and caspian, dlask, randall, and olympic did. But I appreciate them acknowledging the 10% of all shooters who might be interested.

iksnilol

Never understood why nobody has made a mag release behind the trigger. Easy to operate both right and left-handed + it prevents bumping into the mag release.

Cymond

Walther made some that were part of the trigger guard. I have a P22, but I know there were others. (PPQ? PPX? P99? I personally can’t remember all the Walther models.)

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/ Phil W “Senior Writer TFB”

PPS

LeftyTwoGuns

May be making it for lefthanded shooters, however it’s not a lefty gun. The only way I could be coaxed out of that investment would be for a true mirror design. Nice effort though. I’m always appreciative of products with lefties in mind.

101nomad

Left handed with firearms mainly because my left eye is dominant. Have used right handed firearms since they took diapers off my head. (I was a really ugly baby). No problems with any of them. If I tried to shoot a left hand specific firearm now, I would probably have the mother of all jams. Choices are wonderful, use them. ( I can use a hammer with either hand, and hit my thumb equally well with both).